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St. Johns River: two sides of an issue

Bob Self for Shorelines A Great Egret keeps a fisherman company along the bank of the St. Johns River near the Coast Guard Station in old Mayport in 2010.

Special for Shorelines Five counties (shaded in pink) comprise the Central Florida Water Initiative.

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com A fisherman uses a cast net to catch bait as a tanker moves up the St. Johns River between Little Jetties Park and the U.S. Coast Guard station. A new proposal is being discussed that aims to drain millions of gallons from the river each day as a means of supplying the fresh water needs of Central Florida's increasing population.

By Amanda Durish Cook

amanda.durishcook@jacksonville.com

Seven years after Beaches-area elected officials publicly opposed a plan to tap freshwater from the St. Johns River, a drafted plan seeks to tap the river again to supply water to Central Florida.

A draft of the Central Florida Water Initiative water supply plan focuses on meeting future water requirements for Central Florida’s growing population, and Northeast Florida’s stores of freshwater are targeted.

The average amount of water needed in the area charted in the CFWI is projected to increase from 800 million gallons per day in 2010 to 1,100 million gallons per day in 2035. At this rate, central Florida’s main source of water, the Floridan aquifer cannot sustain the growth. The CFWI plan determined the sustainable level is 850 million gallons per day, about 50 million gallons per day greater than the current amount being used.

Presently, 10 bodies of water in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Polk and southern Lake counties are below their established minimum flows and levels, with another 15 water bodies predicted to fall to unsafe levels in the future.

According to the CFWI initiative, “the rate of groundwater withdrawal in certain areas of the CFWI Planning Area is either rapidly approaching, or has surpassed the maximum rate that can be sustained without causing harm or adverse impacts to the water resources and related natural systems.”

More than 135 potential options to source water are named in the CFWI draft plan, including options listing the St. Johns River and one of its major tributaries, the Ocklawaha River, producing an estimated 391 million gallons of water per day in additional water supply over the next 20 years. From the St. Johns River alone, a maximum 155 million gallons a day could be taken from the river, the draft suggests.

“Water suppliers could choose to pursue any of these potential projects in the future, or water suppliers may identify other projects to pursue. They would still need to go through the permit review process,” said Teresa Monson, public communications coordinator at the Office of Communications and Intergovernmental Affairs, in a statement on behalf of the St. Johns River Water Management District.

SJRWMD completed a four-year study in 2012 that focused on the possible consequences of withdrawing a significant amount of water from the St. Johns River. The evaluation was peer-reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. The Water Supply Impact Study concluded “approximately 150 million gallons of water per day could be withdrawn from the St. Johns River with no more than negligible or minor effects.”

Quinton White, executive director of the Marine Science Institute at Jacksonville University, has read over the initiative and calls the wording “very careful.”

“The way the water management system has approached this is … they’re very careful with how they answer questions,” he said.

White conceded that removing millions of gallons of water per day might not change the water level of the St. Johns River.

But, he insisted, that’s not the point.

“Water levels aren’t the issue; the salinity is the issue,” White said, who noted that fresh water withdrawal from the St. Johns River was likely to be filled by the ocean with seawater, raising the amount of salt in the river.

“The St. Johns River is such a flat system; there are actually parts below sea level,” White said.

He envisions the saltier water finding its way into the estuaries.

“The estuary thrives on the fact that it’s got the freshwater input and varying salinity. If you change those conditions, you’re going to change the estuary. It’s a closed system.”

White said that the outcome would be similar to that of the Apalachicola River and Lake Lanier, which supplies water to Atlanta and surrounding areas. The river’s populations of oysters declined after the river was sourced for fresh water.

“That had tremendous impact on the oyster population there. They don’t reproduce and they don’t thrive. That’s what we’re afraid of here,” said White, who added that the impact could reach a host of river vegetation and animal life, notably oysters and shrimp populations within the Beaches’ shores and estuaries.

The Neptune Beach Mayor’s Office has drafted a resolution opposing the CFWI, claiming that it will “endanger the water resources of the St. Johns River.”

The resolution calls the growth in central and south Florida “unchecked.” It also states that the “… City of Neptune Beach, Florida [sic] strongly believes that it is necessary for the public health, safety and welfare of its citizens to protect the limited water resource found in the St. Johns River …”

“They keep pumping and pumping. This isn’t just thousands of gallons of water. When you start taking millions of gallons of water, there’s going to be an impact. You can already see it from the amounts taken now,” said Neptune Beach Mayor Harriet Pruette. “It’s constant to the point where I worry about the future. It’s a shame people don’t see what they’re doing to our natural resources. Sometimes I wonder if they realize what they’re doing.”

However, the SJRWMD insists that the Beaches area can expect no “significant impacts” from the options outlined in the CFWI water supply plan. The district asserts that potential effects on aquatic grasses, commercial fish species and their food base, wetlands and wetland wildlife and “potential changes to the severity, frequency and duration of algal blooms” have been thoroughly researched.

“None of the withdrawal scenarios discernibly lower St. Johns River water levels, increase algal blooms, harm species of fish or plants, or significantly increase the river’s salinity,” SJRWMD staff said in a prepared statement. “It is highly unlikely that any of the effects from meeting future demands with existing sources in the CFWI area would result in any discernible effects to the coastal areas of northeast Florida.”

Beaches mayors in 2008 all publicly opposed a similar initiative that eyed the St. Johns as a source of water for Seminole County.

“Our little city was the first to show opposition to this. It made me proud,” Pruette said.

Pruette said that last week’s 5 p.m. meeting concerning the CFWI initiative in Palatka was scheduled at an inopportune time for many at the Beaches to make the hour-plus drive after work to attend.

Jacksonville Beach City Manager George Forbes said that Jacksonville Beach city officials plan to attend a Feb. 6 public meeting concerning the matter before the city takes a formal stance on the issue. The meeting is slated for 5 p.m. at Jacksonville City Hall.

According to Forbes, taking a stance would be “premature” before the city researches the CFWI initiative.

“Jacksonville Beach is in an exploratory phase; we’re going to collect more information before we take action,” Forbes said.

Atlantic Beach Mayor Carolyn Woods is taking a similar approach. A staff report regarding the issue is planned for the Feb. 10 meeting agenda.

Another meeting, the St. Johns River Water Management District Water Supply Plan Public Meeting will take place Jan. 30 from 5-7 p.m. at the St. Johns County Administration Building in the County Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine.

Amanda Durish Cook: (904) 359-4665

“They keep pumping and pumping. This isn’t just thousands of gallons of water. When you start taking millions of gallons of water, there’s going to be an impact. You can already see it from the amounts taken now.”